Spring-run Chinook salmon are returning in very low numbers to the South Umpqua River near Canyonville, Oregon.
In August, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife counted only 17 of the adult fish returning to spawn in the river. That’s about 12% of the 10-year average of 141 and a steep drop-off from last year, when 160 returned.
Meg Townsend, senior attorney in the Endangered Species Program at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the low numbers of fish could be caused by a few factors.
"This signals that the water in the South Umpqua River this summer was either inhospitable for the returning fish or ocean conditions were such that the fish didn't survive to be reproductive aged and able to return home," she said.
As a result, a group of environmental nonprofits, including Center for Biological Diversity, Umpqua Watersheds and Native Fish Society, has petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to add protections for Chinook salmon on the Oregon coast, in Southern Oregon and in Northern California under the Endangered Species Act. Doing so might mean adding new restrictions on fishing activities.
“We fear that the South Umpqua springers will face a similar fate as the runs that once returned to other Oregon coastal rivers and return no more,” Stanley Petrowski of Umpqua Watersheds said in a press release. “They are blinking out before our eyes, and it would be shameful for the National Marine Fisheries Service to deny protections for these fish and allow business as usual in the South Umpqua and our coastal waters.”
As the number of spring Chinook decreases, it could impact local Indigenous communities with fishing rights and orcas who feed on the fish.
"I'd really like to see this fish recover to such an abundant population that the orcas are thriving, the people all along the Oregon coast are thriving, the salmon are thriving, and, you know, our populations and our communities are sustained for generations," Townsend said.
The Service has determined that adding protections for the fish may be warranted. A final decision is expected later this year.
“When these fish are on the brink of extinction, as they are in the South Umpqua River, it’s the strongest call to action — we must restore healthy and resilient watersheds for the fish and our communities. Leveraging the resources from protections under the Endangered Species Act is our last chance to revive abundant Chinook salmon along the Oregon coast," Mark Sherwood, executive director of Native Fish Society, said in a press release.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct the number of fish that returned last year, as well as the 10-year average.
